Pimlach

Tuch that was great.

Howie Morenz

EJ got even with Smith. Basically said remember me ?

Shorty time

Lindy Ruff played wing and defense. As did Jerry Korab.

Kyle. RJ would call out “The Captain”.

LaFontaine

Skinner. Get another one

I hope you see a great 3rd and get a win.

After two, Donnie playing Dahlin 17 minutes, Power 13, Muel almost 12. Four others span the 7 to 9 minute range. I don’t know why we won’t go back to four lines. This is feeling a bit too Krueger-like.

When it rains it pours.

Penguins charging the net, bodies in front. Krebs and Ketang. I’ll take that trade. Go for 5 and 10 next time

They did. He wouldn’t shoot

No stick and we don’t shoot from that guys side. Not once. No matter how many times Dahlin fed it, they just pass. Olofsson is tits on a bull.

EJ with clean hit. Draws a penalty. Penguins must be untouchable.

Good evening Teammates, Punch checking in. Missed the first. need some Muscle Weight Go Sabres

Ok. KA said last year was development; this year is play to win. What other options are there?

The goaltending was been good. The team defense as measured by GA is 18th out of 32. Last year we ranked 29th out of 32 in GA. This is a clear improvement. I believe that much if the improvement is because EJ and Clifton are so much better than last years crew of Clague/Boosh/Bryson/Stillman, plus team defense is being emphasized by all skaters. These factors are helping our goalies. UPL looks better than last year. Comrie is always hurt, hard to tell, probably about the same. Levi is playing below the level he played last year, his sample size of 7 NHL games last year was woefully too small for KA to think he was ready. Levi has had good moments and has the look of a kid that will make it. Lack of scoring is due to many reasons - injuries, slow starts to key players, changes in system emphasis, and most of all they just aren’t playing hard enough long enough

Probably because Tuch missed action twice so far and they moved lines around a lot. With Cozens in the doldrums and playing hurt, playing Peterka elsewhere was wise. When Quinn comes back I suspect they reunite the three again.

Ok, I get you on Cozens. We are in a bench Cozens thread. I disagree with it, you disagreed with rational for it, then added in the Power benching. Power sitting out one night is much more reasonable than Cozens right now since we have 7 decent defensemen and it might help him to watch and think through things. Without knowing what is in his head it’s hard to say if it’s the right thing to do. Confidence cannot be underestimated. Speaking of confidential, he was officially “hunted” last night and I prefer that he right now starts the ritual of pushing back and playing a tougher game. You can’t do that from the bench. I haven’t seen his fancy stats in a while, the last time I did he was grading well even with fans complaining about him. I try to look at the players total performance and their overall contribution to the team. Cozens and Power are important players. They all make mistakes on occasion and they all get scored on.

FIFY Conservation of energy today? Too much turkey?

Sad but true.

Most of this I like. Trading for a mid 6 guy is at the top of my list. Bench EJ and give Ryan more minutes? This I can't agree with. I think EJ is doing great for us. If Ryan gets more minutes he should get them from a combination of Joker, Clifton and EJ. Play 6 out of a rotation of 7.

True because of the lack of action by KA to replace Quinn, or to do anything to improve his roster at the forward position - which of course he views are "blocking" his prospects. Injuries are unpredictable but you should assume you will have some. If Tage was not hurt, and if Quinn was never hurt, and if Cozens was not playing hurt - then Benson falls from top 6 to top 9. He still makes our top 9 on his own merit. So some of this is great news, if not very fortunate drafting. Skinner - TNT - Tuch Quinn - Cozens - Peterka Greenway - Mitts - Benson Girgs - Krebs/Jost - KO/VO There are 4 players drafted this year that are playing in the NHL. #1 Bedard (Chicago), #2 Carlson (Anaheim), #3 Fantilli (Columbus), and #13 Benson (Buffalo). Benson is freaking good but note all the teams with these players are losing teams right now. Benson just blows away our bottom 5 forwards on this roster and that makes keeping him a viable choice. He was also clearly better than Savoie, Kulich, and Rosen in the preseason. He was better than Biro and Rousek too. The decision on Benson will be what is better for long term. Side note: Because of the injuries and the poor quality of the bottom 5 on this roster the coach is playing 11-7. So in essence we are developing Ryan Johnson in the NHL and he is averaging 10:15 minutes of ice per game. Food for thought: Is 10 minutes of NHL ice for Little Johnson better than 20 minutes of AHL ice? Given the injuries to Quinn and Tage, and the possibility that Benson goes, you can bet that Kulich will be up next. So are we really playing "all in" to win or are we still developing players in the NHL?

Yes you did hear some complaints and they were from me. Because for most of the mid-season DG did in fact shelter Quinn and Peterka in the 3rd period against big physical teams, and Cozens moved from line to line. It was incredible that he got 31 goals and played a strong two way game given all the combination and roles he had. That is the guy I want back. Cozens has been with Skinner and Tuch for one week - I guess that is stability in this hectic season. He was with Tage and Tuch for about one week earlier in the season.